1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a print data processing apparatus which processes print data.
2. Description of the Related Art
There is a printing apparatus configured to analyze print data inputted, to output bitmap image information indicating pixel values of respective pixels and bitmap attribute information indicating attributes of the respective pixels, such as text, photographic image, and graphics, and to perform image processing on the image information with reference to the attribute information. Such technique is described in, for example, Japanese Patent No. 4514168.
Conventionally, the steps of analyzing the print data and outputting the image information and the attribute information are performed within the printing apparatus. However, with improvement in the CPU throughput of a server and development in network technology, a new configuration of the printing apparatus is under consideration, in which only steps dependent on an engine of the printing apparatus are performed within the printing apparatus, and steps not dependent thereon are performed by an external server. In this new configuration, the external server performs the analysis of print data and the output of the image information and the attribute information, which are not dependent on the engine, and this configuration therefore needs a step of transferring the outputted image information and attribute information to the printing apparatus.
This step of transferring the image information and the attribute information might create bottlenecks in the performance of the printing apparatus. To be more specific, the printing apparatus which receives these pieces of information and performs printing processing might not be able to print with its performance satisfying a required PPM (page per minute: the number of pages the printing apparatus is capable of printing for one minute), which is one of the indices of its performance.